The Recovery Period
by Licy4
Summary: John’s worried about Monica after the events of Audrey Pauley, so he suggests a day off. What do they get up to? DRR
1. Making Suggestions

Title: The Recovery Period  
  
By: Licy  
  
Feedback: Yes please! Good or bad.  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own any of these characters (maybe the waitress), I'm just playing with them for a few minutes. When I've finished I'll put them back in the history books.  
  
Summary: John's worried about Monica after the events of Audrey Pauley, so he suggests a day off. What do they get up to? DRR  
  
Spoilers: Nothing really. You need to know who John Doggett and Monica Reyes are, and a little bit about Audrey Pauley, but nothing major.  
  
Category: DRR/humour (little bit)/fluff-ee-ness Rating: PG, nothing too bad in here.  
  
  
  
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It didn't take long for things to settle down again after that night, that night when John thought his world was about to come crashing down, then it was restored by a kind and generous soul who gave her life to save another. This was, of course, Audrey Pauley, the woman to who he owed not only his partners life, but his own, for he would not have been able to go on without her. John was mulling over how somebody could be so completely selfless as he walked into work on the cold March morning. It was, in fact, unusually cold and John found himself relieved to get into the Bureau's warm reception, and then annoyed when he remembered that his office heating wasn't working. Maintenance had promised to come and fix it, but as the weather had been reasonably good over the last couple of weeks, it had not been high on their list of priorities. By the time he got down to the basement he was starting to feel the chill in the air again and so put back on the coat he had taken off as he entered the building. He found his partner already at her desk, focusing all her attention on the screen, so she did not see him come in. He moved across the room to see what it was she was working on and was highly amused to see the later stages of a game of Solitaire up.  
  
'Working hard I see, Agent Reyes?' Monica snapped her head round so fast he was surprised it didn't come off.  
  
'God John, I thought it was Skinner.'  
  
'Sorry, couldn't resist. I take it we have no more cases to work on.'  
  
'I guess the paranormal only come out for Mulder and Scully. Maybe they are afraid of new faces.' John smiled at this, all the while knowing how ironically true it was. Mulder and Scully were the ultimate and if the conspirators and aliens were going to know anyone, it was them. Still, it was a little inconsiderate on evil's part to leave the two agents stranded in an office colder than Chicago at Christmas.  
  
'What do you wanna do then?' he asked, bored of sitting still.  
  
'I want to win a game of Solitaire.'  
  
'Sitting in front of that thing all day will turn your brain to mush and give you carpel tunnel in your hands.' For this comment he was hit with a scrunched up piece of paper, 'Hey, good aim. You didn't take your eyes off the computer either.' She just smiled an evil grin and continued to click the mouse.  
  
An hour later John was re-organising the filing cabinet for the third time when he heard a shout from the other side of the room.  
  
'I did it! I won! Go me!' Monica got up out of her chair, jumped and punched the air, when she landed, she sat down again, 'Okay, excitement's gone from that. what can I do now?'  
  
'I think you should go home and rest.'  
  
'Not this again.'  
  
'Monica, I'm serious. You got out of hospital a week ago after being declared brain dead, you should be resting.'  
  
'John, do I look brain dead to you? I am fine. Now stop re-organising that thing before we can't find anything.' He reluctantly moved away from the metal box and sat back down behind his desk. Monica followed him over and leaned on the edge of the desk so she was facing him.  
  
'There has to be something we can be working on,' he commented after a few moments.  
  
'I rung Skinner before you got here. He says there is nothing for us to do.'  
  
'Okay then, if there really is nothing, then let's get out of here.'  
  
'What?'  
  
'Let's go to Skinner, ask for the day off, then I'm taking you for a day out.'  
  
She looked at her silver watch, 'It is only ten am, there's still time.'  
  
'Is that a yes?'  
  
She eyed him suspiciously, 'You're up to something.'  
  
'I'm trying to get you to do something fun. They say relaxing speeds up the recovering process.'  
  
'I'm not recovering.'  
  
'Who said it was you doing the recovering? I was practically incoherent for three days.'  
  
'Dana said you did just fine.'  
  
'I was a wreck.' He inadvertently caught her eyes and didn't seemed to be able to break the connection. Eventually, she turned away and looked down at the desk.  
  
'Let's go see Skinner,' she announced after a few moments. John smiled and, after allowing her to go first, followed her out of the door and towards the elevator. 


	2. Striking a Pose

Like I would leave you in the lurch like that! Second chapter.  
  
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Two hours later John and Monica were sat in the cab of his truck after having got the day off work and going their separate ways to change.  
  
'So,' Monica began, 'Where do you want to go for this day out?'  
  
'Dunno. What do you wanna do?'  
  
'Well, there is one thing that always relaxes me.'  
  
'And what's that?'  
  
'Shopping!' John groaned and hit his head jokingly on the steering wheel, but he did pull the car away from the curb and head towards the closest shopping centre. Monica settled back into her seat, now looking forward to a day of retail therapy.  
  
'Monica, this is the tenth clothes shop we have been in and you have yet to try on or buy one single thing.'  
  
'Let me explain something to you,' she said as she moved to look at another rack of clothes, ' Women don't actually buy that many clothes. It all starts when you're a teenager. You start having your own money, but never enough and you end up spending hours in shops, admiring outfits you will never be able to afford and saving up to buy 'the' item which will change your life, only by the time you get enough money, it's out of fashion. This happens, say once a year, so that by the time you do have enough money to buy the clothes you want, when you want them, you have this mentality that you shouldn't 'cos you haven't got the money, even though you do. Got it?'  
  
'No, but then I don't really care,' he picked a dress out of a row next to him, 'Here, how about this?' She gave him a look that made him put the dress down and shut up.  
  
'Okay, I have some stuff to try on. Wanna watch?'  
  
'What? Watch you change?'  
  
'Yeah, you wish. I mean, do you want to see what they look like?'  
  
'What else have I got to do?' Monica led the way to the changing rooms at the back of the store. Since it was a workday for the rest of the country there was no-one else there, so John was able to sit right outside her door on an over stuffed stool. John had already given his opinion on several suits and a couple of pairs of jeans when she announced that there was one more outfit left and they could go to lunch. His mood improved at this comment and he realised just how hungry he actually was. His hunger, however, was put to the back of his mind, when Monica came out of the cubicle in the last 'outfit'. It was a long flowing dress which hugged every curve and had tiny strap sleeves. It was a pale blue colour with a dark blue, contrasting section over her breasts. She grinned when she saw his face and struck a movie star like pose.  
  
'You like?'  
  
'Yeah, I like. I like a lot,' he looked her up and down, trying to remember this image.  
  
'I thought I could wear it on a date somewhere,' she watched his face drop, 'Unless you want to take me out tonight?'  
  
'Will you wear that?' he asked, visibly happier.  
  
'If you ask me out.'  
  
'Where do you want to go?' he asked quickly. She laughed and headed back into the tiny room to change. 


	3. A New Image

I was gonna try and make you wait for something to happen between these two, but an opportunity presented itself and I just couldn't help myself.  
  
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After she had paid for the dress they headed to a little coffee shop for lunch. They had a sandwich and coffee each. John had a large coffee, claiming he needed something to help him through the next couple of hours.  
  
'You know what John? This was a really good idea. I do feel more relaxed.'  
  
'Good. What do we do now?'  
  
'Did you never go shopping with Barbara?'  
  
'No, I was lucky enough to have married someone with plenty of friends to go out with.'  
  
'Leaving you to do the manly stuff, like, say, putting up shelves and fixing the tumble drier.' 'Exactly.' 'Well, usually I'd hit the shoe shops after lunch, but since it's your day off too, how about we go look for some clothes for you.'  
  
'What's wrong with my clothes?'  
  
'Nothing, it was just a thought.'  
  
After a few moments contemplation he announced, 'You know what? I could do with some new jeans and a couple of tee-shirts.'  
  
'John! Come out of there.' They were back in changing rooms, this time of a men's clothes shop that way also very empty, probably more because men didn't come shopping that often, rather than because it was a work day.  
  
'No way. These things are way too tight.'  
  
'Let me be the judge of that. Now, get out here.' A sheepish looking John opened the door and left the safety of the cubicle to allow his partner a look at his outfit. He was right, the dark jeans were tight, very tight, but the green and black tee-shirt looked good. It just wasn't what he was used to.  
  
'Maybe the jeans could be a size bigger, but I like the tee-shirt.'  
  
'Yeah, I didn't really think it would look any good, but it doesn't seem too bad.'  
  
'I'll go and get the next size in those jeans while you try on the next stuff. What size are they?'  
  
'I dunno. Have a look at the tag.' Monica stood and walked over to where he was in front of a full length mirror. He lifted the tee-shirt to let her look at the waist of the restricting garment. She first looked to see if it was un-tucked anywhere, but when she couldn't find it, decided she should better ask him before sticking her hand down his trousers.  
  
'Where's the tag?' He spun round fast, not realising quite how close she was standing and they ended with their faces just a few centimetres apart. Their eyes met and the gaze was held again as it was earlier that day in their basement office. This time neither broke it, instead John leaned in a little closer, so close he could practically feel the heat radiating from her. He stopped when there was almost no space between them, suddenly aware that she may not want this, but Monica quashed his fears when she closed the tiny gap and initiated their first kiss. 


	4. Revealing All

Okay, this may seem like a cop out ending, but I really, really couldn't help myself writing this. I was gonna make you wait but my hands kept moving and I couldn't stop them. If people like the story enough I might write some epilogue bits, like the actual meal, but if you don't like it enough then I wont bother.  
  
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He stopped when there was almost no space between them, suddenly aware that she may not want this, but Monica quashed his fears when she closed the tiny gap and initiated their first kiss. It was sot, gentle and slow, but left either in any doubt about it's meaning. As John deepened the kiss, Monica felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew it was not John's, it was too big and too rough. She pulled away quickly a turned to face the intruder.  
  
'Excuse me,' an important looking man in his early fifties said, 'but if you don't stop that, we will have to ask you to leave the shop.'  
  
'Sorry, we'll try not to do it again,' Monica apologised. This satisfied the man and he left them to return to his post behind a counter. She looked back at John who was hanging his head, trying not to let the man, who was still watching them, see him laughing.  
  
'Get out of those clothes, John,' Monica giggled, pushing him back through the door, 'Those jeans are cutting off the circulation to your brain.'  
  
They purchased the tee-shirt from the man and left the shop. When they were a suitable distance away, John burst out laughing. Monica tried to clam him for a few seconds, but sound his laughing infectious and soon they were both leaning against a wall for support, holding their stomachs which were hurting from laughing so much.  
  
'John, what the hell are we laughing at?'  
  
'Did you see that guys face? That was priceless.' This sent them into pleats again. Suddenly, without warning, John grabbed his partner's hand and pulled her to him again. 'But he did interrupt us.' He kissed her a second time, this time more passionately. After a while they had to stop to catch their breaths, which was gone after a combination of the laughing, then the kissing.  
  
'John.'  
  
'Shhh,' he kissed her again, but this time she pulled away after only a moment.  
  
'Are you sure about this? I mean, I understand if it was just a momentary thing, just.'  
  
'I love you,' he interrupted.  
  
'Excuse me! What did you just say?'  
  
'I love you. I have been in love with you for years, I could just never admit it, but I do. I love you.'  
  
She was shocked by this at first, but after eventually she became coherent again and began to talk, 'Oh my God. I can't believe this. I mean.I just.it's only.I love you too. This is amazing. It's brilliant. I wanted you to say that for so long. I love you.' She kissed him, wrapping her arms tightly round his neck and holding on like her life depended on it.  
  
When the kiss ended, John said, 'Can we go home now please? I've had enough of shopping. Even though it was a very successful trip,' he held up the bag containing the dress, which he was carrying like a gentleman, 'I can't wait to see you in this.' She laughed and they headed towards the exit, hand in hand.  
  
  
  
(V. v soppy I know, but I think it's kinda cute. I got a bit carried away) 


End file.
